Choosing the Right Wire Gauge for Your Trackage
Steve BarkleyYou don’t need any special skills or background in electrical engineering to properly connect the trackage on your model railroad layout to your digital command center. All it takes to safely and correctly wire tracks to the DCC on your layout is a basic understanding of resistance and wire gauge, along with a quick trip to Home Depot.
In this lesson, modeler and DCC expert Steve Barkley teaches you about the two most common types of track connections you’ll need to make on your model railroad, and the two coinciding wire gauges you’ll utilize to make those connections. He explains how you should determine when to use a small gauge and when to use a larger version, and tells you why you should always follow the Home Depot Rule when shopping for wiring for your layout. With these expert tips, you can hook up your trackage to the DCC and get those locomotives running in no time!
I use two sizes of wire to wire my layout. The first size is a heavier 14 gauge wire that I use to run from my command station, around the layout to actually then run jumpers to the track. 14 gauge is chosen because it's large enough to deliver enough current with minimum voltage drop for the longer runs from my command station to the various points of my layout. Then I will use 18 gauge wire to run from the central bus, the 14 gauge wire bus, up to the individual track sections to wire into the track. I can use 18 gauge because I'm only running a very short run, perhaps a foot or two from its connection with the 14 gauge bus up to where I solder it onto the track.
This is a good place to mention the Home Depot rule. The Home Depot rule says that you can find anything you need to wire your layout at Home Depot or any other good hardware store. You don't need to go to a specialty electronic shop to find the material that you will need to wire your layout for DCC.
I have 2 Ho trebleX locos...both have dropped the front driveshaft to the front drivers..Does Anyone know how to get into the boiler to do something about this PLEASE...
I use 16 gauge
when running your two different size wires,do you use solid or stranded. which one is better and why. thanks for any help. Ken
I want to light up buildings on my Lionel layout. What is the least expensive & easiest way to accomplish this. I already heard about the expensive "Just Plug". Any other suggestions? Make it easy I'm not an electrician.